riddler

An extremely poor conclusion. From Wikipedia Know any self-employed people? I know a lot, myself included, which don't show up on unemployment numbers when we're out of work. Know any stay-at-home moms or dads? None of these people are included in unemployment figures. In fact, out of the 305 million US citizens, only 141 million are "employed" in the civilian labor force. Those numbers don't count a lot of people that are really hurting to make ends meet. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Already happens. If your anti-lock brakes malfunction and lock-up at high speed, that's already an autonomous robot of some sort killing you. Then there's the terminator/matrix robots that can think for themselves and make the decision to kill people because it's logical. I for one, don't think humans will ever be able to create such A.I. - that scenario would be more the role of a psychopathic programmer that takes it upon himself to program the robots to kill. A.I. of that sort is so complicated, it would take everyone on the planet writing programs for a few hundred years to complete. Plus, I really think society is de-evolving, rather than improving. Idiocracy is our future, not The Matrix. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Wait - I thought this was just a "market correction" Anyway, some of those tents definitely look like high-end REI tents. When Americans can't afford tents anymore, then it will be depressing. BTW, people don't want to believe that what's going on now is nearly as bad as the Great Depression. I'll remind those people that during the 30s, most Americans knew how to grow their own food. Today, not only do Americans not know how to grow food, they can't even apply for a job doing it, because they can't speak Spanish. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Between, the computers, smart phones and all the new technology, there's only one clock left in the house that I have to change - it's on the stove. I think my children won't even change clocks - they'll just feel tired in the morning, while wondering while it seems like they didn't get enough sleep last night Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

My brother and his wife just had IVF. $15,000. Paid for by insurance. It's going to be commonplace much sooner than most of us think. Then, as soon as western medicine convinces insurance companies how dangerous it is for a woman to actually deliver a baby, they'll all be grown in test tubes, and delivered outside the womb, without ever being inside a woman's body. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I was always taught that Damn and Hell were swear-words, when I was a kid. The only interesting things about the three-hour long Baptist church services that I grew up with was that I heard more "swearing" at church than I did the rest of the week. Baptists are know for hellfire and brimstone sermons, and how everyone is damned to hell. I guess you have to define what a swear-word is. I don't think most people think damn and h-e-doublehockeysticks are swear-words. Are we talking the seven dirty words? Or is there an extended list? I vote Catholic, because they have the Irish Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Don't forget, supply drugs that your customers want (like fuel-efficient, inexpensive, quality drugs), instead of giving them cheap, expensive products that they don't want. This month's Adbusters has a fake ad - a picture of an American-built truck, with the text: "You wouldn't to buy our shitty cars. So we'll be taking your money anyway." That about sums it up. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I've had Blackberrys for eight years, and I currently have a BB8830 with Verizon AND an iPhone (AT&T of course), both for over a year. The Blackberry beats the iPhone in nearly every respect. I haven't had any problems with voicemail, but I've not used Sprint service. I'm thinking of Sprint next time because Verizon disables the GPS and WiFi in the BB (to sell you their own competing services). Does the Sprint 8830WE have WiFi? I thought it did, but I can't find it in their specs. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Idea for an environmentally-friendly dropzone: Solar-electric dirigibles, large enough for 4-6 jumpers, two or three per dropzone. Every jump would be like a balloon jump, and no hill (think of how fun it would be trying to chunk a group-exit with zero airspeed). And if it's too windy to fly the aircraft, well, we shouldn't be jumping anyway Of course, just ask the owners of Perris about trying to get the Jet signed off by the FAA - imagine how long it would take to get this sanctioned by the FAA. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I think it's more like, say what you really feel, then do whatever brings in the most dollars. Sometimes those two things are in agreement (then the politician is "telling the truth"), and sometimes they are in opposition ("that lying bastard"). In this case, the Governor did the right thing, and listened to his advisors, who advised him that he better take the money, or he's going to be out of a job come next election. His supporters from the right will take no notice, and it's unlikely that the left will make a stink about it, because it doesn't involve sex, drugs or stealing. So, no harm, no foul. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

It seems like the right has taken up mortgages as the sole reason for our financial problems. I never hear anyone on the right talk about how the Bush administration allowed a loophole in offshore oil speculation that caused the gas prices to rise dramatically last year. I rarely hear about how the GOP instituted a repeal of laws that allowed banks to gamble your money on risky investments (of which mortgages were just one). Nor do I hear about how an illegal war in Iraq increased our national debt by 50% in just eight years, which pummeled the dollar on the world market. But hey, if mortgages are the only thing to blame, then we should see a complete turnaround in a few short years when housing prices are back up, right? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Much of our non-tangential belief systems (e.g. "God") are rooted in early childhood experiences, and it's extremely difficult to change that. In the event that E.T. is made public and scientifically verified, it's not going to change anyone's belief in God. People are just going to find a way to mold and adapt that into their current psychological framework; maybe some will say that E.T. is God, others will create a new testament of the Bible that includes other life. The few that can't find some way to incorporate the new information will probably go insane. These are my beliefs, and I'm not stating them as scientific fact. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

More likely, we're listening to different experts. Since the blame is squarely in the court of the previous administration, the Bush supporters want to say that it's merely a flesh wound. The .com bust caused the DOW to dip below 8,000 from a previous high of 11,000, while our current drop from 14,000 to almost 7,000 looks like a BASE jump, compared to the kiddie-coaster of '02-'03 (also during the Bush administration). Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

An adjustment is dropping, say 10%, due to market conditions, or unforseen events. When the entire market is cut in half in one year, and all the gains of the last decade are lost, that is a crisis. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

It's not enough. Yes, we have some serious financial issues, but pledging to cut our spending to the point that we are still in the red year after year will only increase our overall debt. After four years, not only should the yearly balance be positive, we need to be well on our way to eliminating the debt. After eight years, we should be debt-free. The Bush supporters need to take accountability for the current spending mess - when Clinton left office, the budget had been in a surplus of over $100 billion, and Bush managed to turn it into a $455-billion deficit. How anyone can spend that much money and be so unpopular is inconceivable. The democrats are putting their short-term agendas ahead of the long-term problems our debt will create. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

That would be Bill Clinton, a democrat, and the stock price wasn't "low" because it dropped, it was on a steady rise over the period of many years. http://money.cnn.com/quote/chart/chart.html?symb=djia&sid=1643&time=all&Submit1=Refresh Now, when Bush Jr took office in 2000, it became suddenly flat for several years, followed by a major drop. Funny how that works. Edit for better URL Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

From what I've seen in Colorado, I agree that the stimulus package seems to be pushing a democratic agenda. Colorado will get about 2.8 billion of the 787. While signing it here in Denver, about one mile from my house, there were speeches about how renewable energy was the cornerstone of the package, and that it pushed jobs. The Denver Daily News reports that out of the 2.8 billion, about half of that (1.4 billion) is going towards education, and only 50 million is going to renewable energy. That doesn't seem to be in-line with the speeches. Of course, I recall that Obama's main focus was keeping and creating jobs, so that may be the reason so much Colorado money is going toward education. And personally, I think education is one of the best uses of government money. But if only 50 million is going to renewable energy, and 180 million is going toward food banks, and 800 million going to Medicaid, then the Dems shouldn't stand up and stump about how renewable energy is the cornerstone of this stimulus bill. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Funny will be Rush donning the bling-bling and bustin' out wit da gangsta-rap, hip-hop style. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Here's what is true: 1. State officials have stated that Palin definitely did not pay taxes that she should have, and they have ordered her to do so. 2. Obama's chief of staff might be liable for back taxes, and could be guilty of mis-representing his living arrangements, and may even have to pay them back. One definitely looks much worse than the other at the moment. Any equation of these two scenarios is a very far reach to the right. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Right now, DOW is at 7,509.12, The last time it was this low was around 1997, with a sharp drop after the .bust to about 7,528 in 2002. Is this the lowest the DOW has been in almost 12 years?? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Man, o man. Those Republicans sure have a problem paying their taxes. http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/ Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I used to have a circle of friends that would all home-brew and pass beers back and forth from their private stashes. Real beer-snobs don't drink anything that has a label on it Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I think Bill was sarcastically implying that Chuck believes that Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Given a choice between the government and insurance companies, I'll take the government. At least we would actually get some healthcare, instead of being denied because of a wart on our left toe, or something equally ludicrous. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Has anyone spoken to you about the dangers of Bulimia Nervosa? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD